Campus News

Smyth among top social work professors using Twitter wisely

By CHARLES ANZALONE

“Digital technologies have become so prevalent in our culture that social workers who don’t understand these technologies and how to use them are in danger of being culturally incompetent with some client populations.”

Dean Nancy Smyth

School of Social Work

School of Social Work Dean Nancy J. Smyth is among top social
work professors using Twitter to engage students and connect them
to the social work community, according to a list compiled by a
directory of online master of social work programs.

Smyth, who has been a strong advocate of teaching social workers
how cyberspace can make them more effective, was among 16 social
work professors in the United States cited for their pioneering
work in using social media to circulate their work. The list,
prepared by the Online MSW Programs website, a directory of
CSWE-accredited online master of social work programs, recognized
Smyth for having more than 2,500 Twitter followers.

“Our goal was to bring awareness to the use of social
media in both academia and social work, and to create a valuable
resource for students to find and connect with social work
professors,” says Aaron Tooley, a spokesman for the Online
MSW Programs.

“We are sharing this information in hopes of getting more
people to follow Dr. Smyth and the other professors who made the
list.”

Since becoming dean in 2004, Smyth has moved the UB School
of Social Work toward more effectively using technology to engage
social workers around the world. Most recently, the school began
offering a course in “Social Work Practice and
Technology” where students learn how to use technology like
text messages, video games, Second Life, social media and other
cyberspace tools to make a difference in people’s lives in a
digital age.

“Digital technologies have become so prevalent in our
culture that social workers who don’t understand these
technologies and how to use them are in danger of being culturally
incompetent with some client populations,” says Smyth.
“For example, we know that adolescents won’t disclose
cyberbullying to adults who don’t understand mobile
technologies and their importance to teens’ lives.

“Five years ago, I was telling therapists, ‘You
can’t ethically practice anymore and not be online because
online is where people now get access to evidence-based
intervention manuals and best practices that might never be
available in print,’” says Smyth.

If social workers are to achieve their goals—reaching
those in need, healing them, changing the world through their
knowledge and passion—they need to harness the power of
cyberspace and the world of e-patients, issues Smyth thinks and
talks about with colleagues, both in her “real life”
and in virtual spaces. She maintains a blog, “Virtual
Connections.” Her Twitter feed is http://twitter.com/njsmyth.

“All these technologies are becoming embedded in
people’s lives,” she says. “So for social
workers, it becomes really important for us to have a good
grounding in the technologies, how they can be used helpfully and
how they can run into problems for people.”

“The Internet has changed the way we find and access
information, and social media has changed the way we interact with
people,” according to the introduction to the group’s
list of Twitter-distinguished professors.”

“With more than 1.1 billion users on Facebook and over 550
million users on Twitter, social workers must understand these new
forms of media and communication to better help their clients and
patients.”

To qualify for the list, the professors had to be active Twitter
users who engaged with their followers. The majority of professors
on the list have more than 200 followers and at least 400 tweets
over a sustained period of time.

“We definitely recommend following these professors to
learn more about the field of social work and to stay current on
hot topics,” according to Tooley.

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